The Rescue Mission
by AgentKyla
Summary: When Ziva has an emergency, Tony is ready to take care of her! Though he is unsure of what exactly has been going on between the two of them lately, all he wants is for his partner to get better. But what happens when a case goes wrong? Will Tony lose Ziva?
1. Part 1

_This story takes place after Hit and Run. It has been a few weeks since Ziva returned from Israel and the team has settled back into their normal routines._

Stumbling into his room, an exhausted Anthony DiNozzo collapsed onto his bed. It was 2 a.m. The team had just wrapped up a long case and Tony was worn out from a hard fight. As he was building up the strength to climb under the covers, his phone rang.

He moaned but reached for it anyway, after all, it had to be something important if his phone was ringing at this hour. Looking at the caller ID before he answered, he realized it was Ziva. He quickly answered.

"Hello? Ziva?" he said

"Is this Anthony DiNozzo?" asked an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes…who is this?"

"Sir, you have been listed as an emergency contact for Ziva David. She is in critical condition from a car collision and is being treated at George Washington University Hospital."

Without any reluctance, Tony threw his phone down, grabbed his keys, and ran to his car. Thanks to the lack of traffic this early in the morning, he reached the hospital within ten minutes.

"Where is she?" he asked as he ran into the hospital.

"Sir, who are you here for?"

"Ziva David," he said as his voice began to shake.

"You can wait in her room, she'll be out shortly."

"Is she okay?" Tony nearly yelled.

The receptionist looked at Tony's concerned face and merely directed him to Ziva's room. Once in the room, Tony began pacing back and forth. The pain Tony felt reminded him of the day that he found out that Ziva probably died in Somalia. But something was different this time. Now it hurt more. Now Tony knew that he couldn't handle another absence of Ziva. He was pained by the thought of Ziva in any sort of discomfort and even more so by the thought of a life without her. After an hour of pacing had gone by, Ziva was brought into the room, unconscious.

"Is she okay?" he asked the doctor.

"Too soon to tell, we'll keep an eye on her."

The doctor and a few nurses gently moved Ziva to the bed and left the room. Tony watched her carefully, waiting for her to make a move. Nothing. He walked over to her and gently caressed her face. Recently, he found himself struggling to define exactly what their relationship was. At this moment, his thoughts became even more tangled as he found himself with nothing but an overwhelming concern for his partner. Without realizing he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He flinched back, hoping she wouldn't wake up from that. He wasn't sure how Ziva would have reacted if she had.

Realizing he hadn't contacted the team, he reached for his phone, forgetting he had left it at his apartment. "Should I even call them?" he thought. Tony desired to keep this to himself, wanting to be the only one there with Ziva. But should he risk the rage of Abby? She'd be furious if she wasn't told immediately. What about McGee? Ducky? Palmer? Even Vance? But Gibbs would tell Tony to go with his gut and his gut told him to let them sleep. Tony pulled the chair up to Ziva's bedside, grabbed her hand, and dozed off.

_He soon awoke to a knocking on the hospital door. In walked Eli David. Tony winced several times, doubting what he was seeing in front of him._

_"How..what..Eli..?" he stuttered._

_"I had to make sure my little girl was okay" Eli muttered._

_"She was in a-"_

_"I know. I spoke to her."_

_"You spoke to her?" Tony said questioningly, "Okay, I'm confused."_

_"Yes, she came to me. We had a long talk and sorted some things through."_

_Tony stared doubtfully at Eli._

_"But now I have come to talk to you." Eli spoke bluntly._

_"To me?"_

_"Yes. I'm sending her back. I want you to take care of my treasure."_

"Sending her back, back from where?" Tony asked as he woke up. He looked around the room, empty, other than Ziva. Instantly, her grip tightened, she opened her eyes, and gasped for air. Tony leaped out of the chair.

"Tony?" she asked, turning to see him.

"Hey, you were in an accident," he said softly.

Ziva looked at her hand, holding on to Tony's. Embarrassed, they both let go.

"I remember that much," she uttered, halting as she tried to get up.

"It looked pretty bad, I think you're gonna have to stay still a while. I'll call the doctor."

The next thing he knew, she was back asleep. He sat back down in the chair, watching her. For the next few hours, doctors and nurses came in and out of the room, running tests, changing IVs, etc. Tony didn't budge the entire time. For the remainder of the night, he sat by her side anxiously awaiting her awakening.

Finally, Ziva opened her eyes to see a worn out Tony. He was pale and red, the circles under his eyes were extremely dark, and he looked distraught. But the moment she saw him, his expression changed from distress to care and concern.

"Hey are you feeling any better?" he said, stroking her hair.

Ziva looked at him funny for a moment but then responded, "Tony I am fine."

"Do you need anything? I can get you anything you want.."

"Tony, I said I am fine."

She struggled to sit up and looked at the clock, "It's nine a.m., we should be at work now."

"Oh shoot!" Tony said, running toward the hospital phone

"If you are calling Gibbs, tell him I will be good enough to work in an hour."

Tony paused and looked at Ziva. She was covered in blood, one eye was swollen shut, bruises ran from her face down the rest of her body, her arm was in a sling, and she had third degree burns from the airbag. "You're crazy."

"I am not. This is nothing."

"Oh boy," Tony muttered. "Ziva, look in the mirror, you're in no condition to be working. I can see the pain in your face."

"If you're going, I'm going."

Tony walked back over and sat down on the bed beside Ziva. He looked straight into her eyes. "I'm staying," he said calmly. He got up again and went for the phone.

"Where are you?" McGee answered, "Gibbs is not happy this morning."

"Ziva and I are a little tied up here McGoo."

"What do you mean?"

"She got in an accident last night and she's pretty beat up, I'm here at the hospital taking care of her."

"McGee," Tony heard in the background.

"Boss it's Tony, he's as the hospital with Ziva, she was in an accident."

"Gibbs says stay with Ziva, there's only some paperwork," McGee told Tony.

"Will do," he said hanging up the phone.

"Tony, I feel like there is something important that I can not remember," Ziva mumbled.

"Well that's not surprising. The doctor says you had a concussion, luckily you woke up."

She shrugged, "I think it had to do with the case."

"No we wrapped that up," he assured her.

As she opened her mouth to argue, a doctor came in the room.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said, "we've been monitoring you all night and everything looks good on the inside. You're outsides will take a while to heal from the pain and swelling but other than that, you're pretty much good to go. We've got some medicines for the pain and the concussion for you. All you have to do is rest, stay hydrated, and not use your arm. If you want to stay another night feel free but you're also free to leave."

"I do not need another night," she replied instantly.

"Alrighty then, I'll go grab your meds and get you checked out," he said, exiting the room.

Tony turned to Ziva, "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Tony I will be fine."

The two were silent.

"Can you call a taxi for me?" she finally asked.

"No," he responded.

Ziva looked at him confused.

He got up, "because I'm going to take you home and take care of you."

"That is really not necessary Tony, I can take care of myself."

As she unsuccessfully tried to stand, Tony smirked, "I think it's pretty necessary."

She let out a little laugh and agreed to let him, which surprised him, he had expected her to be more stubborn about it. He went over and helped her into a wheelchair. They finished checking out and headed to his car. Finally, they pulled up to her house.

They spent most of the day watching movies on the couch. They remained silent other than Ziva's reluctant requests. Their silence, for the most part, was the result of shared mixed feelings. Tony was concerned for Ziva and just wanted her to feel better. Ziva was silent because she was embarrassed to need so much help. Tony knew that Ziva was only asking for help with the necessities, no matter how much he tried to persuade her to let him help her with anything at all.

Finally, the day was ending and Tony helped Ziva crawl into bed.

"Tony, please lay down," she said, "you look exhausted."

Ziva was right. Tony had been up for over thirty six hours and was extremely tired. Seeing no reason to argue, he lay down next to her. After more silence, Ziva finally broke the ice.

"Were you up the entire night?"

"Yeah," he looked straight into her eyes, "I was worried about you."

"I really appreciate everything that you've done. I-"

He cut her off, "I know. You don't have to say anything."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Thank you…for everything."

"Anytime," he replied and watched her as she closed her eyes and went to sleep. He grabbed her hand and finally fell asleep himself.

* * *

A few hours later, Tony and Ziva woke up to gunshots. Ziva instinctively tried to reach for her gun but yelped from pain. Tony grabbed his gun and shot out of the bed. Suddenly, Ziva's bedroom door shot open.

"Federal agents, drop it!" Tony yelled.

As one person began shooting at Tony, he shot back. Two more people came over and grabbed Ziva. She tried to fight back, but failed. Tony turned his gun to shoot at the people grabbing Ziva, but was shot in the shoulder and the hand by the first person.

As they dragged Ziva away, Tony began to black out. He fell over from weakness. Just as they were leaving, he recognized the face of one of the people who had grabbed Ziva. It was a person that he had interrogated from the case. Right before he blacked out, the last thing he knew was that the car accident…was no accident.

_Be watching for part two this week! I plan to have it up soon! Thanks for reading! This was my very first fanfic so just bear with me, I promise I'll get better. Please review and feel free to let me know what needs improvement. Thanks! :)_


	2. Part 2

Ziva opened her eyes, or at least she thought she did. All she could see was blackness. Suddenly, she heard voices speaking.

"She might have valuable information about U.S. secrets," said one voice.

"It's useless, she's a trained professional and we aren't professional torturers. I don't want any hostages. Kill her now," said another.

"Why don't we just throw her off the plane when we're over the middle of the ocean?" a third voice piped up.

The second voice spoke again, "No hostages."

"But killing a federal agent right here could be detrimental. We don't want to give them any more clues to come after us," the first person said.

"Fine, we'll dump her off the plane. In the meantime, keep her contained until the plane gets here."

* * *

Tony began to wake up. Everything around him was blurry, but he was regaining consciousness. The first thing he saw was Abby standing over him in a hospital room.

"TONY!" she squealed and leaned down to hug him.

"Hey Abby," he muttered, trying to regain his strength.

"Ziva speed dialed Gibbs as the gunshots were going off. He tried to get to Ziva's apartment as quickly as possible."

Tony shot up from the bed as he remembered what happened.

"If you're feeling better, Gibbs needs you at the office. He's trying to find Ziva."

Immediately, he began taking out his IV and grabbed his stuff, "Yeah I'm better."

"Okay, the doctor said to leave the sling on though to help your shoulder…and don't take the bandages off your hand!" she said as Tony was halfway out the door.

"You coming?" he said.

Abby quickly caught up with him. She drove him to NCIS and he made his way to the squad room as quick as possible. When he walked out of the elevator, Gibbs and McGee looked straight at him, without saying anything.

"Boss, I'm sorry," he said, ignoring rule 6.

"Don't apologize to me," Gibbs replied, "just focus on finding her."

"It was Landers and Rowland. They came in. Ziva told me there was something about the case she couldn't remember. She must have caught them tying up loose ends…and now she's a loose end."

"Not yet," Gibbs said.

McGee piped in, "I knew there was something off about Rowland!"

"Find 'em!" replied Gibbs.

Tony walked over to his desk and sat down, frustrated. Something inside of him told him that she was still alive. His heart hurt. He thought about how Ziva must feel, unable to defend herself. He felt burdened that he hadn't been able to defend her. He also began to regret blowing her off when she mentioned the case. Everything inside of him felt tangled in a big mess. He wasn't himself. With Ziva missing, his investigative talents were lacking and distracted. He needed his partner.

"Okay boss, I have word of an unidentified plane heading toward D.C. It looks like it could be headed to Lander's facility!"

"Let's go!" Gibbs said, gearing up.

Snapping out of it, Tony finally spoke again, "Oh yeah, boss! There was a third person."

Gibbs nodded and they headed out. The team soon arrived at a large, empty facility.

"Clear!" Gibbs yelled.

Tony froze, he wasn't sure what to do next, but he knew he had to find Ziva. He was beyond feeling guilty, now he was only concerned about her. Then, something sparkly caught his eye. Walking over to it, he realized it was Ziva's necklace. Instantly, he knew she left it there on purpose. When Gibbs had retired, the two of them worked on a secret code, mainly for fun, in case one of them was ever taken, not knowing that they would actually use it someday. He searched the wall, trying to find just what he was looking for. Then, he saw it, five identical scratches, side by side. That stood for Africa.

"Boss! They left to Africa," Tony said.

"Didn't he mention something about having business in Nigeria?" asked McGee.

Gibbs's eyes opened wide, "Abuja."

He grabbed his phone and started dialing.

"Hello?" answered Deputy Director Craig (Vance's temporary replacement).

"We need a plane to Abuja, Nigeria."

"A new case just came in about a dead marine, all other teams are busy. You're going to have to send just one person," he replied.

Gibbs hung up. "Tony!"

"Yeah boss?"

"You're going to Nigeria."

"Are you sure that's a good idea boss? He just took two bullets.." McGee questioned.

Gibbs stared at McGee.

"Right. I would never doubt your instinct."

Tony allowed a smile to creep across his face. He knew he was going to save Ziva.

* * *

Ziva lay still, frozen from pain. She was tied up and had been abused by her kidnappers. They were currently on the plane. From the amount of time that they had been on, Ziva estimated they were somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. After hearing their earlier conversation, Ziva feared that any moment now would be her last before tumbling out of the plane to her death. As she began to worry more about it, she questioned why she was so fearful. She had faced death many times before, but never had she feared it. Death was something she was willing to accept-in fact, she had been ready to die in Somalia a few years ago, but now, something was different. Suddenly, she realized that ever since last night, all she could think about was Tony. Did he make it to the hospital? Was he alive? He had to be alive, she could feel it. What about his state of mind? Was he okay?

Then, Ziva acknowledged how much she missed him, how much she wanted to be in his arms, how much she wanted to speak to him, how much she wanted to feel his comfort and the warmth of his body, and most importantly, how much she wanted him to be okay.

"I must love him," she thought, "No..I can't love him. He is my partner, he has been my partner for years. But…could I?"

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by Landers. Now that she was more conscious and able to see who was speaking, she realized it was Landers that had wanted to kill her on the spot. He was the one that refused to keep her as a hostage.

"The pilot refuses to fly low enough for us to open the door!" he yelled angrily.

Rowland stepped backward. Ziva could tell he was afraid of Landers.

"Stop it!" the unknown person said, "What's done is done! We can't change it! Besides, we didn't want to give NCIS any clues that we took her. They mistakenly thought we were innocent the first time. If they linked us to a second crime, we'd be busted. Especially since _someone_ told them about Abuja!" he said, glaring at Landers.

"Well what do you suppose we do with her then?" Landers said angrily.

"Easy. We sell her. Or, we lock her up and let her die. She's in no condition to fight back, escape, or anything. We can do whatever we want with her when we get to Abuja. It's not like Nigerian authorities are gonna be able to do anything anyway."

"Fine," growled Landers.

Ziva felt relief. "They don't realize how much of a stubborn fighter I can really be," she thought, "after a little rest, I will be able to take them no problem..and I can return to…_Tony._"

Realizing that her thoughts had once again made their way back to Tony, she began to wrap her mind around the fact that they had a deeper connection. "I really could love him," she thought.

* * *

"Okay McGoogle, I'm here," Tony said over the phone as he stepped out of the airport gate, "give me the directions."

"Sending them to your phone," McGee replied, "be careful!"

"Yeah, yeah"

"And Tony…" McGee added, "bring Ziva home."

"I will McGee, you can count on that," Tony said as he hung up is phone.

"Taxi!" he yelled, "Takasi!"

Tony smiled, he knew Ziva would be proud of him for saying a word in the area's native language. How was she doing? "She must be hanging on," he thought, "she's not one to give up easily." However, he couldn't help but worry as he climbed in the taxi. He just wanted to see her again and get the chance to show her how much he cares for her. He wanted to bring her home. But most of all, he wanted to know that she was okay.

As the cab continued to drive, Tony's head started to hurt. He felt weak and his shoulder was throbbing. How was he supposed to save Ziva like this? What was Gibbs thinking? His eyes started to close. Tony was approaching nearly 72 hours without sleep. Sure he had gotten an hour or two before Ziva was taken, and maybe another hour in the hospital, but he hadn't slept a wink on the plane. All he had been able to think about was Ziva. ZIVA! He woke up. "I won't rest until I find her," he thought.

For the next half an hour, Tony continued to stare out of the window of the car, pretending to listen to the driver's lousy attempts at speaking English. He continued to worry. Finally, the car stopped.

"Yowr destynation suh," the taxi driver said.

"Uh..here you go," Tony said, handing him a wad of cash.

"Too much"

"Keep it!" Tony replied, closing the door.

He made sure everything was in place and waited for the driver to leave. When he finally did, Tony cautiously approached the worn down building. He heard talking coming from the inside. It was their voices. The talking soon escalated to yelling. He gulped, "here goes nothing."

He busted through the door, "Hands up!"

Landers turned around. Tony had his gun pointed straight at him. As Landers reached for his weapon, Tony shot him in the shoulder.

"AH!" Landers yelped in pain.

Tony smiled, now they were even. "Where is she?"

Everyone froze. The mystery person began to draw his weapon and was about to shoot at Tony. Tony turned his weapon to face him. "Drop your weapons," he said.

Again, Landers made an attempt to shoot Tony. Tony avoided the bullet and shot Landers. Dead.

"Drop them and tell me where she is," he said more firmly.

This time, Rowland began to draw his gun. "Don't make me say it again," Tony said.

The mystery person took a shot, Tony turned around, jumped, and shot him. Dead.

He walked closer to Rowland and held the gun to his head. It took everything in his power not to shoot him right then and there. "Where is Ziva David?"

Rowland dropped his gun, "She's in the back."

"You're under arrest," Tony said, handcuffing the guy and shoving him on the ground.

Then, he ran toward the back of the warehouse. He saw several doors, any of which Ziva could have been behind. But was she dead or was she alive? The doors were locked. He then busted down two of them. Nothing. As he approached the third door, he stopped. Tony realized that he really didn't want to know if she was dead or alive. He didn't want to face the truth just yet, he wasn't ready. He closed his eyes and counted to three, then busted down the door.

As the door fell, he saw her. There she was, lying breathless on the ground. Even more bruised and beaten than she had been from the accident. His eyes opened wide as he ran over to her. As he turned her over, she still felt warm, there was a chance she was still alive. Trying to feel for a heartbeat, he felt nothing. His eyes began to water as he panicked and jumped to the worst conclusion. But finally he felt it, "Thump!" It was very slow, but it was there "Thump…thump….thump." He took his hand off of her, relieved. Gently, he pulled her close and hugged her tight.

* * *

Two days had passed since he found her.

"One platter please," Tony said as he dug around in his pocket for change. The man handed him yet another nasty looking breakfast and Tony gave him the money. Tony took his tray back up the stairs to eat in Ziva's hospital room. She hadn't woken up but the hospital had held out hope, so Tony did as well. Sitting down on the hospital chair that had been his home for the last two days, Tony nearly gagged as he looked at his breakfast. US hospital food was bad enough, but Nigerian hospital food? Disgusting!

Gibbs had given Tony permission to stay with Ziva until she woke up, unless her coma extended for longer than 10 days. Rowland had been sent back to the U.S. to spend the rest of his life in prison. Tony took a few bites of his breakfast and then shoved it aside. He smiled as he looked at Ziva's necklace that he had been able to put back around her neck.

Ziva's eyes slightly opened. "Mmmm," she moaned. Tony got up, excited that she had awoken. He walked over to her and started stroking her hair.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked.

Ziva completely opened her eyes and stared at him for a moment. Relief overflowed her body. Tony was okay! He hadn't died! She smiled as best as she could with her swollen cheeks and busted lip. "You saved me?" she asked.

Tony helped her to sit up. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you about the case," he said.

Ziva laughed. What were these feelings that she had for him? She still couldn't sort it out.

Instant relief consumed Tony, he was so happy to hear her laugh. He gave in to his urge to grab her hand.

Ziva looked at her hand, in his, and gripped his hand as well. Looking back up at Tony she asked, "How long was I out for? And how long must we remain here?"

"First of all, do you know where here is?"

"Nigeria. I remember everything that happened up until they knocked me out," she then proceeded to tell him the discussions she had heard among them. She continued and told him about when they landed and the fight they had before she was shoved into that room.

Tony stared at Ziva with a sad look on his face as he heard the pain that Ziva had gone through. After taking a moment to shove away his sadness, he spoke, "You've been out for a little over forty eight hours. The doctor said that as soon as you wake up and start to gain a little strength, we can take you back to the states. The only thing wrong on the inside is that they thought they had to remove your spleen but they didn't have to. So you just have a few broken bones and a lot of healing to do."

Ziva nodded and held tighter to Tony's hand. "I'm ready to go home."

* * *

Three days later, Tony helped Ziva into the door of his apartment. She was leaning on him for support, she had been healing remarkably fast. Tony helped her to the couch and sat her down. "I'll try to go grab the boxes from your place," he said.

In the five days since Tony had found Ziva, McGee, Abby, and even Gibbs had all gotten together to box up Ziva's things. People were coming soon to rebuild her apartment. It was surprising how much damage had been done in the shootout. A few of the bullets fired had hit some pipes and caused multiple problems. Ziva's walls had to be taken out and all of her systems had to be redone.

"You can pick from any of my classics and I'll be back to watch with you in a bit," he said, handing her a large box of DVDs.

Ziva laughed as she realized just how long it would take her to get through the entire box.

Tony smiled and left to go pick up the boxes.

When he got back, he saw that Ziva was on the opposite side of the room, leaning against the wall. Seeing the bewildered look on Tony's face, she began to explain herself, "I just wanted to try to walk on my own. I was able to make it here but I don't know if I can make it back."

Tony shook his head, realizing that this was going to be a long few weeks. He smiled and helped her back to the couch, "Ziva, the doctor said that you need to rest, you'll be able to walk on your own soon."

Ziva had decided on Casablanca. Tony made some popcorn and the two of them laughed all night, watching at least two more movies. As the movies played, they talked and laughed about everything from what was going on in the movie, to random stories from childhood. They even began to share a few secrets with each other. As the last movie ended, Tony looked over at Ziva and smiled at her snoring away. He had enjoyed the fact that they broke another barrier. What was between them, well, he was even more confused now. But he was just happy to have her back and just happy in general from the fun that they just had. After thinking about the night's events, Tony ended up falling asleep on the couch as well.

Over the next few days, Tony and Ziva hung around his apartment. He helped nurse her back to help and continued to argue with her over what she could and couldn't do. He helped her as much as she would let him. They played board games, watched more movies, talked, and spent a little time apart doing their own things. Some nights, Tony attempted to cook and others, he ordered pizza or got takeout from the nearest Chinese place.

After those first few days, it was finally time for Tony to go back to work. Ziva continued to stay at his apartment and at the end of the workday, he came home and they would enjoy dinner and a movie. While Tony was at work, Ziva would try to rebuild her strength and even began to secretly go on runs. She began going to physical therapy and continued to stay with Tony while her place was being redone.

* * *

After three weeks, Ziva's apartment was ready and Tony helped her to move back in.

"Well Miss David you are finally back home," Tony said, putting down the last box.

"Thank you Tony," she said.

"So you're sure you'll be able to make it to physical therapy by yourself this week? And you're feeling good enough to stay on your own?"

"Good enough," she said hesitantly.

"Well then, I guess I'd better get home. Gotta be at work early tomorrow."

The two had just come back from a dinner together at a fancy Italian restaurant. Ziva was finally feeling good enough to go out in public and they wanted to celebrate Ziva's finished apartment.

"I guess so," she replied under her breath.

"See you at work next week?"

"Looking forward to starting again," she said, trying to smile.

"Well..okay then," Tony said as he awkwardly turned around to leave. It felt weird to separating after all this time together.

Ziva watched him as he made his way to the door. Then, suddenly, she ran over (as best as she could) and hugged him, "Thank you Tony, for everything."

Satisfied, Tony smiled and enjoyed the hug. "I already told you Ziva, you aren't alone."

Finally, they said their official goodbyes and Tony made his way back home. When he got to his apartment, he opened the door and looked around, empty. He walked over to his couch and sat down. From the couch he looked straight into his empty room, where Ziva had been staying for the past few weeks. Tony finally got his bed back..but it wasn't the same. Everything felt blank, he missed Ziva's presence. It was already weird without her at work, but now, he had to adjust back to being by himself. He stared at the TV, which was turned off. For the first time in a long time, Tony felt alone.

* * *

"DiNozzo, I want that case report on my desk in an hour," Deputy Director Craig said as he walked through the squadroom.

"Of course sir."

McGee looked up from his desk. He had been glued to the screen all morning. He was missing Ziva as well. Her absence had really taken a toll on everyone. Gibbs was even quieter than usual and there was an awkward tension among the team. Abby had been less cheerful lately too. Of course they had all gone to visit her, but it just hadn't been the same without her.

Tony looked up from his desk when the elevator door dinged. Out walked an excited, perfectly fit and strong Ziva.

"Welcome back," McGee and Gibbs both said at the same time.

Tony looked into her eyes and smiled, beyond happy to have his partner back.

Ziva smiled back and sat down at her desk. She looked up at Tony and winked. Everything was falling into place.

**The End**

_Sorry it took me a whole week to update! I've been crazy busy and I also just wanted to make sure that I ended the story the perfect way! Thanks for all of your reviews, favorites, and follows. I'm quite surprised at how successful my first story was. Thank you so much EVERYONE for all of your support and for reading. It means a lot. Again, this is my first fanfiction so please feel free to tell me how I can improve. I appreciate all comments. Thanks again! -Kyla_


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